<p> The 100-metre freestyle event was a matter of pride for Karnataka lad Pruthvi KS, while Pulkeet Kumar, the fastest swimmer of the meet, and Siddhant Deshmukh were eyeing their second top finish here. <br /><br />The battle lived up to expectations, and it was Pruthvi’s turn on Thursday as he squeezed past his rivals to secure his first gold of the 36th Junior National Aquatics Championship.<br /><br />Pruthvi, who was narrowly beaten by Pulkeet in the 50 free in the boys’ Group I category, was slow off the blocks at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Vidyashram pool as Punjab’s Pulkeet and another Karnataka boy Siddhant battled it out for the top two places.<br /><br />However, at the halfway mark, Prithvi made some rapid strides to catch up with the leaders. Then, the Basanavanagudi Aquatic Centre swimmer managed to put in that extra effort, getting his fingertips to the touch pad first to edge out his opponents for the gold. <br /><br />The Vijaya Composite PUC second year student stopped the clock at 55.02 seconds to finish ahead of Siddhant (55.90), who took silver, and bronze medallist Pulkeet (56.21). “After my defeat in the 50 free yesterday, I was desperate to win the 100 free. I was nervous at the start but after the halfway mark, I regained my composure. I think this will get me a ticket to the Asian Age Group meet in Japan,” said an elated Pruthvi. <br /><br />However, the day belonged to Sushaka Pratap, the 16-year-old rewriting the national record in the 1500 free girls’ Group I event, clocking 18 minutes and 42.00 seconds. Sushaka bettered the old mark of 18:43.66 set by Surabhi Tipre of Maharashtra in 2008.<br />The other individual record setter on Thursday was Kavya Bhandekar of Maharashtra in the 50M backstroke for Group I girls. The Karnataka boys’ Group II 4x200 freestyle relay team lowered the national mark while the State girls equalled the national mark in the corresponding event. <br /><br />Karnataka are comfortably placed to retain the title as they ended the day with 25 gold, 15 silver and six bronze medals compared to a dozen gold for Maharashtra, who are placed second. <br /><br />Riding on a superb show under the bar by Saraswathi Holla, Karnataka held Maharashtra 3-3 to top the Group B standings on goal difference in the water polo event. The State girls meet West Bengal in the semifinal on Friday.<br /><br />Results:<br />Boys: Group I: 100M freestyle: Pruthvi KS (Kar) 55.02, 1; Siddhant Deshmukh (Kar) 55.90, 2; Pulkeet Kumar (Har) 56.21, 3.<br />50M backstroke: Gopinath Kayal (WB) 29.03, 1; Abhinav S (Kar) 29.67, 2; V Turbu (Ker) 30.90, 3.<br />400M Individual medley: Akshay Krishna (Kar) 5:02.85, 1; Aditya Roshan (Kar) 5:04.42, 2; N Arvind (TN) 5:10.07, 3.<br />4x200M freestyle relay: Karnataka (Akshay Krishna, Siddhant, Aditya Roshan, Gagan A P) 8:28.23, 1; Maharashtra (Rahul, Kevin, Apurva, Saurabh) 8:36.83, 2; TN (Sajan, Prakash, Divakar, Jaywant) 8:43.97, 3.<br />Group II: 100M freestyle: Shaun D’Souza (Kar) 57.30, 1; P Sandeep (TN) 58.25, 2; Prajwal KS (Kar) 58.96, 3.<br />50M backstroke: Sachet Engineer (Mah) 31.83, 1; Sonu Yadav (UP) 32.42, 2; Yudhishtir Jaising (Mah) 32.58, 3.<br />400M Individual medley: Srinivas MD (Kar) 5:25.12, 1; Arvind M (Kar) 5:26.95, 2; Ishan Dhali (WB) 5:30.26, 3.<br />4x200M freestyle relay: Karnataka (Prajwal KS, Ajay A, Srinivas, MD, Shaun D’Souza) 8:52.47, 1. NR. Old record: 8:54.19 (Karnataka, 2008); TN (Govind, Gautam, Surendar, Sandeep) 9:16.73, 2; Maharashtra (Prasad, Viraj, Dhokale, Kaustubh) 9:25.54, 3.<br />Girls: <br />Group I: 1500M freestyle: Sushaka Pratap (Kar) 18:42.00, 1. National Record. Old record: 18:43.66 (Surabhi Tipre, Maharashtra, 2008); Navya G Shenoy (Kar) 18:49.24, 2; Srishti Tandon (Raj) 18:59.86, 3.<br />50M backstroke: Jyotsna Pansare (Mah) 32.67, 1; C Ayshwarya (TN) 33.18, 2; Talasha Prabhu (Goa) 33.79, 3.<br />100M butterfly: Madhavi Giri (Kar) 1:09.84, 1; Harpreet Kaur (Dli) 1:10.38, 2; U Aditi Malavika (TN) 1:10.55, 3.<br />4x200M freestyle relay: Karnataka (Navya, Anvitha, Madhavi, Sushaka) 9:34.85, 1. Equalled National Record. Old record: (Karnataka, 2008); West Bengal (Ratna, Fowmida, Monalisa, Priyanka) 9:42.59, 2; Tamil<br />Nadu (Raghavi, Suganya, A Gulnaz) 9:51.03, 3.<br />Group II: 800M freestyle: Kanchi Desai (Mah) 9:58.75, 1; Anusha Mehta (TN) 10.08.84, 2; Medha C (Kar) 10:19.59, 3.<br />50M backstroke: Kavya Bhandekar (Mah) 32.38, 1. NR. Old record: 32.74 (Jyotsna Pansare, Maharashtra, 2008); R Sushmita (TN) 34.23, 2; Ananya Panigrahi (Mah) 34.46, 3.<br />100M butterfly: Vandita Dhariyal (Guj) 1:07.46, 1; Sneha T (Kar) 1:08.96, 2; Rujuta Bhatt (Mah) 1:09.37, 3.<br />4x200M freestyle relay: Karnataka (Pratima, Sapthami, Bhoomi, Sneha) 9:31.37, 1; TN (Sushmitha, Dharshini, Anusha) 9:40.48, 2; Maharashtra (Ananya, Gauri, Rujuta, Kanchi) 9:51.72, 3.<br />Water polo: Boys: West Bengal: 10 (Bhattachariya 1, Dutta 2, Mondal 2, Dey 2, Modak 1, Sumit 2) bt Karnataka: 2 (Ramprasad R M 1, Sandeep S 1); Kerala bt Madhya Pradesh 13-2; Punjab: 13 bt Manipur: 4.<br />Girls: Karnataka: 3 (Sowbhagya Lakshmi 1, Varshini Gubbi 1, Shruthi MS 1) drew Maharashtra: 3 (Meghna 1, Radhika 1, Komal 1); Kerala: 11 bt West Bengal: 1.</p>
<p> The 100-metre freestyle event was a matter of pride for Karnataka lad Pruthvi KS, while Pulkeet Kumar, the fastest swimmer of the meet, and Siddhant Deshmukh were eyeing their second top finish here. <br /><br />The battle lived up to expectations, and it was Pruthvi’s turn on Thursday as he squeezed past his rivals to secure his first gold of the 36th Junior National Aquatics Championship.<br /><br />Pruthvi, who was narrowly beaten by Pulkeet in the 50 free in the boys’ Group I category, was slow off the blocks at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Vidyashram pool as Punjab’s Pulkeet and another Karnataka boy Siddhant battled it out for the top two places.<br /><br />However, at the halfway mark, Prithvi made some rapid strides to catch up with the leaders. Then, the Basanavanagudi Aquatic Centre swimmer managed to put in that extra effort, getting his fingertips to the touch pad first to edge out his opponents for the gold. <br /><br />The Vijaya Composite PUC second year student stopped the clock at 55.02 seconds to finish ahead of Siddhant (55.90), who took silver, and bronze medallist Pulkeet (56.21). “After my defeat in the 50 free yesterday, I was desperate to win the 100 free. I was nervous at the start but after the halfway mark, I regained my composure. I think this will get me a ticket to the Asian Age Group meet in Japan,” said an elated Pruthvi. <br /><br />However, the day belonged to Sushaka Pratap, the 16-year-old rewriting the national record in the 1500 free girls’ Group I event, clocking 18 minutes and 42.00 seconds. Sushaka bettered the old mark of 18:43.66 set by Surabhi Tipre of Maharashtra in 2008.<br />The other individual record setter on Thursday was Kavya Bhandekar of Maharashtra in the 50M backstroke for Group I girls. The Karnataka boys’ Group II 4x200 freestyle relay team lowered the national mark while the State girls equalled the national mark in the corresponding event. <br /><br />Karnataka are comfortably placed to retain the title as they ended the day with 25 gold, 15 silver and six bronze medals compared to a dozen gold for Maharashtra, who are placed second. <br /><br />Riding on a superb show under the bar by Saraswathi Holla, Karnataka held Maharashtra 3-3 to top the Group B standings on goal difference in the water polo event. The State girls meet West Bengal in the semifinal on Friday.<br /><br />Results:<br />Boys: Group I: 100M freestyle: Pruthvi KS (Kar) 55.02, 1; Siddhant Deshmukh (Kar) 55.90, 2; Pulkeet Kumar (Har) 56.21, 3.<br />50M backstroke: Gopinath Kayal (WB) 29.03, 1; Abhinav S (Kar) 29.67, 2; V Turbu (Ker) 30.90, 3.<br />400M Individual medley: Akshay Krishna (Kar) 5:02.85, 1; Aditya Roshan (Kar) 5:04.42, 2; N Arvind (TN) 5:10.07, 3.<br />4x200M freestyle relay: Karnataka (Akshay Krishna, Siddhant, Aditya Roshan, Gagan A P) 8:28.23, 1; Maharashtra (Rahul, Kevin, Apurva, Saurabh) 8:36.83, 2; TN (Sajan, Prakash, Divakar, Jaywant) 8:43.97, 3.<br />Group II: 100M freestyle: Shaun D’Souza (Kar) 57.30, 1; P Sandeep (TN) 58.25, 2; Prajwal KS (Kar) 58.96, 3.<br />50M backstroke: Sachet Engineer (Mah) 31.83, 1; Sonu Yadav (UP) 32.42, 2; Yudhishtir Jaising (Mah) 32.58, 3.<br />400M Individual medley: Srinivas MD (Kar) 5:25.12, 1; Arvind M (Kar) 5:26.95, 2; Ishan Dhali (WB) 5:30.26, 3.<br />4x200M freestyle relay: Karnataka (Prajwal KS, Ajay A, Srinivas, MD, Shaun D’Souza) 8:52.47, 1. NR. Old record: 8:54.19 (Karnataka, 2008); TN (Govind, Gautam, Surendar, Sandeep) 9:16.73, 2; Maharashtra (Prasad, Viraj, Dhokale, Kaustubh) 9:25.54, 3.<br />Girls: <br />Group I: 1500M freestyle: Sushaka Pratap (Kar) 18:42.00, 1. National Record. Old record: 18:43.66 (Surabhi Tipre, Maharashtra, 2008); Navya G Shenoy (Kar) 18:49.24, 2; Srishti Tandon (Raj) 18:59.86, 3.<br />50M backstroke: Jyotsna Pansare (Mah) 32.67, 1; C Ayshwarya (TN) 33.18, 2; Talasha Prabhu (Goa) 33.79, 3.<br />100M butterfly: Madhavi Giri (Kar) 1:09.84, 1; Harpreet Kaur (Dli) 1:10.38, 2; U Aditi Malavika (TN) 1:10.55, 3.<br />4x200M freestyle relay: Karnataka (Navya, Anvitha, Madhavi, Sushaka) 9:34.85, 1. Equalled National Record. Old record: (Karnataka, 2008); West Bengal (Ratna, Fowmida, Monalisa, Priyanka) 9:42.59, 2; Tamil<br />Nadu (Raghavi, Suganya, A Gulnaz) 9:51.03, 3.<br />Group II: 800M freestyle: Kanchi Desai (Mah) 9:58.75, 1; Anusha Mehta (TN) 10.08.84, 2; Medha C (Kar) 10:19.59, 3.<br />50M backstroke: Kavya Bhandekar (Mah) 32.38, 1. NR. Old record: 32.74 (Jyotsna Pansare, Maharashtra, 2008); R Sushmita (TN) 34.23, 2; Ananya Panigrahi (Mah) 34.46, 3.<br />100M butterfly: Vandita Dhariyal (Guj) 1:07.46, 1; Sneha T (Kar) 1:08.96, 2; Rujuta Bhatt (Mah) 1:09.37, 3.<br />4x200M freestyle relay: Karnataka (Pratima, Sapthami, Bhoomi, Sneha) 9:31.37, 1; TN (Sushmitha, Dharshini, Anusha) 9:40.48, 2; Maharashtra (Ananya, Gauri, Rujuta, Kanchi) 9:51.72, 3.<br />Water polo: Boys: West Bengal: 10 (Bhattachariya 1, Dutta 2, Mondal 2, Dey 2, Modak 1, Sumit 2) bt Karnataka: 2 (Ramprasad R M 1, Sandeep S 1); Kerala bt Madhya Pradesh 13-2; Punjab: 13 bt Manipur: 4.<br />Girls: Karnataka: 3 (Sowbhagya Lakshmi 1, Varshini Gubbi 1, Shruthi MS 1) drew Maharashtra: 3 (Meghna 1, Radhika 1, Komal 1); Kerala: 11 bt West Bengal: 1.</p>
